Antichrist

Occurrences in Scripture

The word "antichrist" appears in the Bible only in 1 John and 2 John. In 1 John 2:18, the writer reminds his readers that they have heard that antichrist shall come in "the last time," and then declares, "even now are there many antichrists." First John 2:22 calls the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ an antichrist. 1 John 4:2-3 and 2 John 1:7 apply the term to those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

Etymology and Background

The Greek prefix anti can mean both "against" and "in place of." The word can therefore be understood either as one who opposes Christ or as one who impersonates Christ. The Epistles of John appear to be directed against a group that had left the community and denied the incarnation of Jesus (God's taking on a human body). Some scholars associate this group with teachings in the tradition of Docetism, which held that Jesus did not take on a real body of flesh.

Connections with the Wider Biblical Witness

Although the word itself does not appear in them, Christian tradition has read the following passages in connection with the Antichrist:

• Daniel 7: the "little horn" that arises from the fourth beast, with "a mouth speaking great things"
• Matthew 24:24: the warning that "false Christs, and false prophets" shall arise
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4: "that man of sin," "the son of perdition," who appears before the day of the Lord and "sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God"
• Revelation 13: the beast that rises out of the sea and receives worship; its number is given as "six hundred threescore and six," that is, 666 (Revelation 13:18)

Scripture does not state explicitly whether all these passages refer to the same figure. Treating them as a single figure is a matter of interpretation.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• A single end-time individual: This view holds that the Antichrist is a particular person who will appear just before the end. Some of the early Church Fathers held this view, and dispensationalism connects it with a seven-year Great Tribulation.
• A historical institution: Reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin identified the Roman papacy as the Antichrist. The original text of the Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 25, section 6) likewise called the pope the Antichrist, although some churches, including Presbyterian churches in the United States, later revised this clause.
• A first-century figure: Preterist interpretation reads the beast of Revelation as a Roman emperor, such as Nero, who persecuted the church of that time.
• A recurring principle: Pointing to 1 John's reference to "many antichrists," this view understands the term as referring generally to the forces in every age that deny and oppose Christ.

Many interpreters combine more than one of these views. Claims that identify 666 with specific objects such as barcodes, credit cards, or implantable chips, however, have been criticized as lacking any basis in the text.

In Korean Churches

In Korean churches, the subject is addressed mainly in preaching on Revelation and in teaching on eschatology. In the early 1990s, when date-setting eschatology that fixed a specific date for the Rapture spread, claims linking 666 to barcodes and similar items circulated alongside it. Since the 2000s, claims that the "VeriChip" (an electronic chip implanted in the body) is the mark of the beast are reported to have spread, chiefly over the internet. Theologians and pastors from a range of denominations have criticized such claims as groundless and as stirring up fear.